I am the first to admit that I am not one that has been able to appreciate the work of Russell Brand. I’ll further admit that the only thing I have seen him in was the re-make of Arthur, which should never have been remade. When you have a cast like Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli, the late Sir John Gielgud, and the late Geraldine Fitzgerald what are the hopes of doing better than that, even with my beloved Helen Mirren? As it turns out, Russell Brand is a rather impressive young man with a keen awareness of homophobia, class, distribution of wealth, and history. Bravo, Mr. Brand!

Brand was just recently the recipient of a British GQ Oracle award, which is sponsored by Hugo Boss. Upon receiving his award, Brand took the opportunity to remind the audience of the deep ties Hugo Boss had to the Nazi Party during WWII. Hugo Boss not only supported the Third Reich, but also made an enormous amount of money making the uniforms for the Nazi soldiers. The uniforms were often made by prisoners of war – a truly horrific irony. Despite Boss’ prohibition from operating the business after the war, he transferred power to a relative and the business continued on its ill-gotten gains. During the push for reparations in the 1990s, the company paid lip service to the effort but refused to publicize any findings regarding their activities and contributed what adjudicators called “a bare minimum” to the reparation fund. What an awful example of soulless corporate greed.

In Brand’s most impressive speech, he also deftly addresses the persecution of gays during WWII – sadly we have a redux in Russia now. And with great aplomb, Brandon also gives a much needed smack down of classism and the inequitable distribution of wealth. I have to love Brand’s understanding of power dynamics and how corporations and governments are implicated. Note this portion of his speech as transcribed in the Guardian:

Now I’m aware that this was really no big deal; I’m not saying I’m an estuary [sic] Che Guevara. It was a daft joke by a daft comic at a daft event. It makes me wonder, though, how the relationships and power dynamics I witnessed on this relatively inconsequential context are replicated on a more significant scale.

For example, if you can’t criticise Hugo Boss at the GQ awards because they own the event, do you think it is significant that energy companies donate to the Tory party? Will that affect government policy? Will the relationships that “politician of the year” Boris Johnson has with City bankers – he took many more meetings with them than public servants in his first term as mayor – influence the way he runs our capital?

Sadly, GQ editor Dylan Jones reprimanded Brand on Twitter, stating, “What you did was very offensive to Hugo Boss.” Brand responded aptly, sticking to his important thesis: “What Hugo Boss did was very offensive to the Jews.”

In 2010, when Danny Glover learned that Hugo Boss worked hard to stomp out any signs of unionization, he initiated a boycott of Hugo Boss. I certainly support a boycott of Hugo Boss and I would offer that for those of us committed to tikkun olam, we must interrupt all oppression when we witness it. We must stand in solidarity and unite all targeted populations to challenge the dominant discourse. It is not just the 1% we must challenge, but the top 20% as we look for more equitable ways to distribute wealth and resources.

Unfortunately, I still hear the word Jew being used as a verb. I still hear the word fag and a long list of other pejoratives that strip people of their dignity, while also stripping the speaker of theirs. Now is the time to stand united and remember the painful history of the world so that we may move forward and become agents of peace and social justice – honoring counter narratives. While most of us do not hold the position of power and privilege Russell Brand does, each of us, individually and collectively have the power to have our voices heard and to show resistance around corporate entities. We can expose the voices that silently collude with power structures, intentionally keeping targeted populations at bay- and we can ensure there is no censoring of our criticism.

Michael Hulshof-Schmidt teaches Social Justice at the Portland State University School of Social Work. He is the Executive Director of EqualityWorks, NW, a company that provides workshops on racial equity and how to stand in solidarity with targeted populations. You can read more of his work at http://hulshofschmidt.wordpress.com/.

37 Responses to “Russell Brand Exposes the Anti-Semitic Hugo Boss”

Brand’s speech was impressive — informed, passionate, humorous, and designed to provoke positive action. That he is willing to call out his own privilege and challenge the comfortable people around him is even more impressive. Let’s hope his actions are part of a trend rather than an exception.

Great.article. I, too, was not a fan of Russell’s until I read this great article We, as humans, have lots to learn from his great speech It reminds me of Rev. MLK quote, “”An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”

This article has totally made me a Russell Brand fan. Good for him. Humanity still exists! Thanks for writing some inspiring celebrity news. Love to see people speak up and take a stand against the injustices of the world!

>> Sadly, GQ editor Dylan Jones reprimanded Brand on Twitter, stating, “What you did was very offensive to Hugo Boss.” Brand responded aptly, sticking to his important thesis: “What Hugo Boss did was very offensive to the Jews.” <<

^^ That, ladies and gents, is the sort of thing that happens right before someone exclaims, "BOOM. ROASTED."

Well said indeed, Mr Brand. Oppression on any level is oppression, and may we never forget that. I've often found myself conflicted when "sponsoring" parties of events have shady dealings; this is step in the right direction of how to handle them. May other companies take note – folks aren't sitting idly by any longer. They WILL be held accountable for their misdeeds.

I am embarrassed that was unaware of the ties of Hugo Boss to the Nazi regime. This article was incredibly informative and I am especially impressed with the honest admission of the author that he was not a fan of Brand; he gave a circumspect assessment of Brand’s speech without downgrading it based on his fun loving and comedic style.

I had no idea! That makes me sad that they don’t feel sorry about what was in the past, and especially since the company is very pro gay now. But, at the same time, if we were all held accountable for what our predecessors did, we’d all be in trouble. I can appreciate the desire of Russel to have a cause, but it does seem like kind of a publicity stunt =\ Great article though!!

Great article! Thanks for bringing this issue to my attention. I happen to be a huge fan of Russell Brand, Jews, AND social justice; yet I had no idea that a) this event even happened b) that Hugo Boss had historically supported the Nazis, or that c) neither my fiancé nor I, nor anyone at our Temple will ever buy another Hugo Boss product ever again!

I never paid much attention to Russell Brand. This has changed my generally uneducated perception of the man. He does appear to be a student of history. He also does not appear to be shy about speaking his mind. Appropriately done, that is very good. I learned something new and as it can be, it was not pleasant. But, all if us are better off informed by facts. I will pay more attention to Russell Brand.

I’d imagine that every current German industry that existed before and during the war had ties with the Nazi party and contributed to the German war effort, including the auto maker VW. Hugo Boss is hardly unique. I would be far more pressed if he exposed the anti Semitism within the anti Israel BDS movement of today.

So was it juts Hugo Boss that had ties with the Nazi party. Look at every German company that survived the war and it is guaranteed that the owners had ties with the Nazi party and contributed industrial capacity ot the war effort. V/W and Mercedes produced vehicles for the German military during the war.. That that I have revealed that information, does that make me “brave?”

No, Sid, it does not make you “brave,” simply confused or willfully misleading. Please note that Hugo Boss was a relatively small family business whose founder and owner was a sponsoring member of the Nazi party as far back as 1931. He devoted the majority of the company to Nazi uniform production and he and his extended family supported the party in many ways throughout the war. He managed (as the article notes) to keep the company in family hands after the war and the massive corporate entity that exists today was built on that shameful foundation. Please also note the minimal (at best) efforts at reparation, the effort to suppress a report about the company’s history, and the continued social injustices that Boss practices.

VW was crushed in the aftermath of the war. The modern company was rebuilt by a British officer who used the remaining plant for manufacture. It has a dark early history — for which it has made every effort to atone — but no direct, modern corporate link to that history. Daimler was also fully reorganized after the war. The company fully acknowledges their past on their website and was a leader in reparations. Again, the current corporate structure bears little or no connection to the pre-1945 company. Other major companies that survived the war (Siemens, Deutshce Bank, etc.) are much more analogous to Daimler than to Boss.

It’s also worth noting that Brand was at a Hugo Boss sponsored event, so calling out that company, which actively hides its history, makes sense in context.

PS – making your point multiple times in one thread does not make it more valid…

Ever hear of Siemens?. Does that make me brave for mentioning them. There were many German businessman who were in bed with the Nazi party and their businesses survive today. Uniforms? Meh! Just ask a German who is in his 50′s and 60′s parents were doing back then, You ill hear silence.

I had no idea about Hugo Boss’s ties to the Nazis. I am another one who is not a huge fan of Russell Brand’s work, but he seems to be a genuinely nice person, who cares about people, and doesn’t mind saying what he thinks in defense of people he feels are being put down. That is rare. Thanks for this article.

Ever hear of Siemens?. Does that make me brave for mentioning them. There were many German businessman who were in bed with the Nazi party and their businesses survive today. Uniforms? Meh! Just ask a German who is in his 50′s and 60′s parents were doing back then, You ill hear silence.

Thank you for bringing this historical piece of oppression to light. While I agree with some of the postings that other industries and companies must’ve knowingly participated during the German obstruction/invasion that became and was WWII, to what degree they knowingly, willingly and complicitly participated (vis a vis “forced to or else”), I don’t know. The importance is learning from the oppression that occurred and, ideally, preventing that from happening again.

Some people are selective in their choices of being righteous . I wonder,if that is intentional? If not, why Israel, and the mention of some German industrialist (who worked with the Nazis) and happened to be Jewish ,were omitted from this comments? Also, in particular, Israel and its well established trade of arms, mostly to a third world dictatorships in Africa, south America and other parts of the world. Not to forget that this is happening now and not fifty ,sixty years ago. That is on top of the physical military training of those abusive leaders and their cronies ,that commit massacres and atrocities against their own people and humanity, just to keep or gain power and money? How about the Israeli companies, that profit from the illegal occupation and murder of the Palestinians, that is also still taken place for the last 40 some years, if not 65 years? If we need to speak let’s speak the whole truth and not hide parts of it to make ourselves feel better or selectively special while we expose others.